NCAA West roundup: North Dakota St. pulls off shocker

North Dakota State's Lawrence Alexander (12) celebrates in overtime during a second-round game against Oklahoma in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament in Spokane, Wash., Thursday.

NORTH DAKOTA STATE 80, OKLAHOMA 75, OT

SPOKANE, Wash. — The guys in green raced off the court and into the locker room where they danced and sang, compared whose shot was most likely to end up featured on “One Shining Moment,” and checked Twitter to see who was giving them a shoutout.

North Dakota State pulled off yet another 12 seed stunner and enjoyed every moment of it.

“I just want to keep coaching this team,” NDSU coach Saul Phillips said. “I don’t want to have to say goodbye to this locker room.”

Lawrence Alexander’s 3-pointer with 11 seconds left forced overtime and Carlin Dupree came off the bench to score four unlikely points in the final 75 seconds of the extra session, and the Bison knocked off No. 5 seed Oklahoma 80-75 Thursday night.

NDSU (26-6) picked up its first NCAA tournament win by rallying in the final minute and outlasting the Sooners in overtime. Alexander finished with a career-high 28 points, but it’ll be his falling-down, fist-pumping celebration after the tying 3-pointer that will be replayed in Fargo for years.

But that was just the first act. Dupree came on in the closing seconds of overtime after Taylor Braun fouled out, hit two free throws and scored on a difficult baseline leaner with 41 seconds left that put the Bison up by four and ignited the celebration.

Phillips ran over to the fans in green and yellow, threw his arms in the air and screamed at the top of his lungs. No one could hear the excitable North Dakota State coach with all the noise.

The Bison quickly realized they grabbed the nation’s attention.

“You guys figure out how big it is,” Phillips said. “I know it’s very gratifying and I know that for guys like Lawrence and Carlin and everybody on this team, couldn’t have happened to a more fitting group of guys, because they have done what it takes to be exactly where we are right now, year-round.”

While players were monitoring Twitter to see who had been watching, the school’s own athletic department account probably had the best line.

“We’ll gladly be your Cinderella, America.”

SAN DIEGO ST 73, NEW MEXICO ST 69, OT

SPOKANE, Wash. — In the fourth and final overtime game on Day 1 of March Madness, San Diego State outlasted New Mexico State for a 73-69 victory.

New Mexico State’s Kevin Arnois made a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left in regulation Thursday night to push the game to overtime.

The four extra periods were the most in a single day in NCAA tournament history.

Xavier Thames scored the first basket of the extra session and the fourth-seeded Aztecs (30-4) never trailed. Thames finished with 23 points for San Diego State, which will play 12th-seeded North Dakota State — an overtime winner itself over Oklahoma earlier in the day. Seven-foot-5 Sim Bhullar had 14 points and seven boards for the 13th-seeded Aggies (26-10) before fouling out in the OT. Daniel Mullings led the Aggies with 18.

WISCONSIN 75, AMERICAN 35

MILWAUKEE — Ben Brust scored 17 points and second-seeded Wisconsin devastated American with a 22-5 run to close the first half.

The second-seeded Badgers (27-7) recovered from a brief first-half rut and seven-point deficit to extinguish the dreams of the 15th-seeded Eagles (20-13).

After Wisconsin was ousted in the first round last year as a No. 5 seed, Brust made sure his senior season didn’t end the same way. He attacked the glass for baskets on consecutive possessions, ending with a three-point play with 3:33 left in the first half to give Wisconsin a 23-20 lead.

Joseph Young had 19 points for the Ducks (24-9), who had to stage a big comeback to beat the Cougars 100-96 in overtime in December. There was no comeback needed this time, with Oregon turning away every charge by BYU in the second half.Cook, a native of Milwaukee, is the son of former NBA All-Star Alvin Robertson.